Red Fang Sink Their Teeth Into Stoner Rock Glory
Portland’s feel-good sludge kings on heat waves, egg salad, and making nice with technology.
By Christine Leonard
Photo by James Rexroad
- Published on
Reflecting on a two-year long tidal wave of tribulations, Giles is pragmatic when it comes to the coping mechanisms his band was forced to adopt in order to adapt. “To tell the truth we didn’t get together for the first year and a half of the pandemic, so it really did cramp our rehearsal time,” says Giles. “But on the plus side my little silver lining is that I did hunker down and figure out how to use some home recording [technology]. I did not want to do it. My whole life I was like ‘I do not want a computer to have anything to do with my music.’ I thought playing music should be a 12-pack of beer and your dudes. I was pretty vehement about that, and then I realized if I didn’t do that I wasn’t gonna make music, so I changed my tune. And I’m really glad because it has been helpful and I think it will continue to be helpful as far as sharing ideas outside of practice cuz we’re getting older and finding the time to all get together proves more difficult. So, this old dog has a new trick!”
Beyond adept when it comes to the ‘old trick’ of pounding out dire yet good-natured heavy rock bangers, Giles and his mates; lead guitarist Dave Sullivan, bassist/vocalist Aaron Beam, and percussionist John Sherman conjured up massive riffs for their fifth studio LP, Arrows (Relapse Records, 2021), while ensuring tracks were crafted with the band’s lugubrious, and very physical, sense of humour. Accompanied by ‘highly’ entertaining videos for the songs “Why,” “Arrows,” and most recently the self-immolating “Rabbits In Hives,” Red Fang’s latest album overflows its banks with lava flow power and stinging irony.
“Right off, I would assume it’s being compared to Murder the Mountains (Relapse Records, 2001) because [producer] Chris Funk worked on it. So, maybe it has the same kind of textural things happening. I’m proud of the record, we tried some new stuff out – and that’s probably the last thing anyone wants to hear from a band that they care about. ‘Something new? Oh, God! Help me!’ or whatever. Anyway, if they think it sounds like egg salad – as long as they like the taste of egg salad – go with it!”
Reasserting their Alpha status with Arrows, the four-man wolfpack closed the nail-biting five-year gap that had been gnawing at fans since the appearance of 2016’s Only Ghosts (Relapse Records). “It felt very free to bring different ideas to the table,” Giles explains. “We’ve always had the philosophy that there’s no such thing as a Red Fang song that you can describe. But if the four of us agree to play it – it’s a Red Fang song. “My Disaster” is a song on there that I’m really happy about because it came together so quickly and it just felt really good. Sometimes you get caught up in the incidentals of songwriting…and who really cares? I think that song dodged a lot of those pitfalls.”
He continues. “If I have to play one note the whole time and that serves the song then my ego is taken out of it, we want the song to be good no matter whether it lands me in Guitar Player Magazine or not! Not that I’m in any real danger of that!”
Now, with channels reopening, electrons sparking, and engines firing on all cylinders Red Fang has chewed through their restraints and taken Arrows out on the road. Having successfully conquered a European/U.K. tour that saw them mount stages at metal fests such as Copenhell, Freak Valley and Hellfest (to name a few), Red Fang has turned their attention to North America and is salivating at the opportunity to “Murder the Mountains” as they rampage across the western half of the continent.
As guitarist/vocalist Giles so aptly puts it: “The global pause-button has been released!”
TOUR DATES:
Aug 1 Calgary, AB – Commonwealth Bar & Stage – TICKETS
Aug 2 Saskatoon, SK – Louis’ – TICKETS
Aug 3 Winnipeg, MB – Park Theatre – TICKETS
By Johnny Papan
Return to the Return (of the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness) is the duo's most ambitious audiovisual project yet.
By Glenn Alderson
To celebrate the release of Nouveaux Langages, we asked the artists who helped shape her new double album to ask the questions.
By Sofia Dawson
Daughter From Hell finds the songstress twisting the knife deeper.
By Sebastian Buzzalino
The Vernon quartet’s new album Rat Bastard is a fiercely alive mix of post-punk, dub, techno and basement-show energy.
By Kenna Clifford
Driven by the centuries-old sound of the shamisen, the Berlin-based quintet is deconstructing Japanese folk music and rebuilding it for new audiences around the world.
By Izzy Petraglia
The decade-spanning pop star held an immersive, phone-free experience for devout listeners to celebrate her new album, Music, Fashion, Film.
By Neil Jefferies
Alone Together finds the New York trio navigating grief, fatherhood and the uneasy distance between trust and suspicion.
By Sebastian Buzzalino
The Vancouver punk band bottle their chaotic live energy into a blistering black-and-white session filmed at Phony! Records.
By Cam Delisle
Paring alt-R&B back to its foundations, new avatar gives equal weight to songwriting, distance, and one of the genre's defining voices.
By Sophia Pan
Fire From the Hip finds the actor and musician taking control of his art – even if he can’t control who follows him there.
